Aspects of M-theory and quantum information

As the frontiers of physics steadily progress into the 21st century we should bear in mind that the conceptual edifice of 20th-century physics has at its foundations two mutually incompatible theories; quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While general relativity refuses to succumb to quantum rule, black holes are raising quandaries that strike at the very heart of quantum theory. M-theory is a compelling candidate theory of quantum gravity. Living in eleven dimensions it encompasses and connects the five possible 10-dimensional superstring theories. However, Mtheory is fundamentally non-perturbative and consequently remains largely mysterious, offering up only disparate corners of its full structure. The physics of black holes has occupied centre stage in uncovering its non-perturbative structure. The dawn of the 21st-century has also played witness to the birth of the information age and with it the world of quantum information science. At its heart lies the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. Entanglement has applications in the emerging technologies of quantum computing and quantum cryptography, and has been used to realize quantum teleportation experimentally. The longest standing open problem in quantum information is the proper characterisation of multipartite entanglement. It is of utmost importance from both a foundational and a technological perspective. In 2006 the entropy formula for a particular 8-charge black hole appearing in M-theory was found to be given by the ’hyperdeterminant’, a quantity introduced by the mathematician Cayley in 1845. Remarkably, the hyperdeterminant also measures the degree of tripartite entanglement shared by three qubits, the basic units of quantum information. It turned out that the different possible types of three-qubit entanglement corresponded directly to the different possible subclasses of this particular black hole. This initial observation provided a link relating various black holes and quantum information systems. Since then, we have been examining this two-way dictionary between black holes and qubits and have used our knowledge of M-theory to discover new things about multipartite entanglement and quantum information theory and, vice-versa, to garner new insights into black holes and M-theory. There is now a growing dictionary, which translates a variety of phenomena in one language to those in the other. Developing these fascinating relationships, exploiting them to better understand both M-theory and quantum entanglement is the goal of this thesis. In particular, we adopt the elegant mathematics of octonions, Jordan algebras and the Freudenthal triple system as our guiding framework. In the course of this investigation we will see how these fascinating algebraic structures can be used to quantify entanglement and define new black hole dualities

Young subgroups and polynomial identities

AbstractWe study the Young cosets of the symmetric group and determine the ones in which the number of full cycles is minimal: They are, among other characterizations, the ones whose graph is a tree. This is related to the (still open) problem of finding an effective criterion for polynomial identities of n × n matrices

A Review of Private Fund Raising at Utah State University with Recommendations for Increased Private Financial Support

Higher education was hardly over a period of tremendous expansion strain following World War II When it was faced with even more critical pressure caused by an exploding population, a larger percentage of people requiring a college education, and increased demands for services and research on the part of governments and business. It is small wonder then that funding of higher education has multiplied in scope far beyond the modest appropriations of state legislatures and equally modest philanthropic support of pre-war years. The efforts to advance the understanding and support of educational programs have created whole new administrative departments in many institutions and expanded greatly the roles of the relatively few people involved in the activity prior to World War II. Public relations in colleges established itself as a management concept and alumni fund raising efforts broadened into total institutional development pro grams. However, in-depth analysis of the operation of such programs and the establishment of evaluative criteria were generally of secondary importance to getting the job done. A dollar pinch is developing for higher education. The 1970\u27s will bring larger studentbodies, greater demand for services and research, and continued rapidly rising costs. Competition for the education dollar will become acute. Budgets will be squeezed and all aspects of higher education will have to become more effective and efficient. The challenge to programs and personnel devoted to the furtherance of understanding and financial support will be equally as great, Interpretation of the educational program will be increasingly difficult as institutions grow more complex and the public more sophisticated. Added demands are being placed on the tax dollar and education will find other agencies competing strongly for funds in the state houses and on Capitol Hill. Private wealth is still abundant, but greater breakthroughs in philanthropic motivation will have to be made if education is to obtain the required financing, Combined with the pressures just mentioned is the ever-present reality of rising costs. Just to stay even in the future the management of educational fund raising and public relations programs will have to be improved greatly in both efficiency and effectiveness (13). After World War II Utah State University found its position similar to many other universities needing funds. To establish a position in the field USU entered organized fund raising by establishing the development fund in 1958. Prior to that time only research funds from governmental and private sources had been sought. As needs have generated more interest in private fund raising at Utah State, steps have been taken to expand the fund raising activities

Science and spirits? Response to Amos Yong’s The Spirit of Creation

Review of Yon

Simulation, Science, and Stakeholders: Challenges and Opportunities for Modelling Solutions to Societal Problems

The article outlines an approach to computer modelling called “human simulation,” whose development has been explicitly oriented towards addressing societal problems through transdisciplinary efforts involving stakeholders, change agents, policy professionals, subject matter experts, and computer scientists. It describes the steps involved in the creation and exploration of the “insight space” of policy-oriented artificial societies, which include both analysing societal problems and designing societal solutions. A case study is provided, based on an (ongoing) research project studying “emotional contagion” related to misinformation, stigma, and anxiety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with lessons learned about some of the challenges and opportunities facing scientists and stakeholders trying to simulate solutions to complex societal problems.publishedVersio

Exploring the Dimensions of Innovation Culture in the Public Higher Education Institutions: Towards Improved Organizational Performance in Research and Development

This paper extends the concept of innovation culture to the academic organizations, particularly public higher education institutions (HEIs). Through a case study approach, a total of 40 individuals composed of research and development (R&D) managers and administrators, innovators, and faculty research personnel from four selected public HEIs participated in the in-depth interviews and FGDs. Institutional statements were also used as secondary data. Through synthesis of previous studies, we learned the different organizational, human, and collaborative dimensions of innovation culture, however in the context of private manufacturing organizations. Results revealed that in academic organizations like public HEIs, the aspects of innovation and the concept of innovation culture were embedded in the institutional statements as well as in the values of the participants. It was also found that innovation culture is a widely understood concept in terms of its attributes or building blocks. Through this study, we understood the importance of innovation culture in promoting performance amidst the challenges of doing R&D in public HEIs. We learned that creativity and flexibility, innovation resources, training and capacity development, and coaching and mentoring were the key elements of innovation culture that can help address the managerial and institutional challenges in doing R&D in academic organizations. Lastly, identifying and assessing the specific dimensions and elements of innovation culture in academic organizations as well as determining their impacts of innovation culture on research productivity in academic organizations were relevant research areas to explore in future studies

Studying close entity encounters of the psychedelic kind: Insights from the cognitive evolutionary science of religion

This article calls for a more robust mutual engagement between the science of psychedelic experiences (SPE) and the cognitive evolutionary science of religion (CESR). Greater collaboration between researchers in these disciplines could open up opportunities for producing new knowledge not only about the human brain and the therapeutic effects of psychedelics, but also about the evolution of our species and our prospects for creatively enjoying our minds and peacefully living in pluralistic groups in a rapidly changing global environment. However, there are at least three major challenges facing the recently renewed field of SPE: 1) articulating adequate theoretical grounding for its research in a way that can be communicated to neighbor disciplines, 2) developing experimental designs that provide adequate warrant for its cross-cultural and more historically oriented claims, and 3) avoiding psychological, political, and philosophical minefields that could lead to an (over)reaction to the use of psychedelics in research of the sort that almost destroyed the field in the 1970s. While expressing a hope for reciprocal interaction, this article focuses primarily on some lessons learned by scholars in CESR – in relation to material theoretical developments, methodological testing strategies, and minefield navigation experiences – that might provide inspiration for scholars in SPE as they work to keep the renaissance in their field from going “off the rails.”Studying close entity encounters of the psychedelic kind: Insights from the cognitive evolutionary science of religionpublishedVersio

They Lift My Spirit Up: Stakeholders’ Perspectives of Support Teams for African-Americans Facing Serious Illness

Abstract Background: Active social and spiritual support for persons with cancer and other serious illnesses has been shown to improve psychological adjustment to illness and quality of life. Objective: To describe stakeholder perspectives of a community and church-based support team intervention providing practical, emotional and spiritual care for persons with cancer and other serious illness within the African-American community. Methods: Support team members were recruited from African-American churches, community organizations, and the social network of individuals with serious illness, and paired with persons with serious illness. The intervention was evaluated using semi-structured interviews with 47 stakeholders including those with serious illness, support team volunteers, clergy and medical providers. Results: Stakeholders report multiple benefits to participation in the support team including the consistency of support provided, support complementary to medical care, emotional and spiritual support, the extension of support to patients’ family members, and the fulfillment of service. Reported barriers to participation included desires for normalcy, independence, to initiate one’s own support, as well as perceived limitations in volunteer support and scope of training. Conclusions: This qualitative evaluation provides initial evidence that a support team intervention helped to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of African-American persons with cancer or other serious illness. Support teams offer a practical approach to enhancing support within familiar social structures, including churches and other community organizations, and merits further study as a way to improve quality of life for persons facing serious illness.Master of Public Healt

Human Simulation and Sustainability: Ontological, Epistemological, and Ethical Reflections

publishedVersio